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SUMMARY:Understanding metabolism for ecological and environmental purposes
  - Dr Matt Davey
DTSTART:20100416T120000Z
DTEND:20100416T123000Z
UID:TALK23957@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:15560
DESCRIPTION:In the plant kingdom alone\, there are an estimated 200\,000 m
 etabolic products\, all of which are controlled by both genetic and enviro
 nmental factors. However\, we are far from understanding the detailed regu
 lation of the expression of these metabolites\, let alone the extent to wh
 ich metabolic plasticity plays in growth\, reproduction and survival in na
 tural environments. The understanding of such processes is essential for a
  range of current ecological and environmental topics\, such as how climat
 e change may affect metabolism and the resulting shifts in survival and pl
 ant distribution\, and how we can mitigate the effects of climate change b
 y exploiting metabolism to enhance the rate of accumulation or quality of 
 lipids for biofuel production. As a new member of the department I shall p
 resent data from my recent research on environmental metabolomics as well 
 as new research on algal biofuels. Plant populations growing at the margin
  of their range\, such as the Arctic-alpine Arabidopsis lyrata spp. petrae
 a\, may exhibit traits that indicate genetic differentiation and adaptatio
 n to their local abiotic environment. Such traits can be identified by acq
 uiring ecological\, genomic\, transcriptomic\, proteomic (8-plex iTRAQ) an
 d metabolomic (GC-MS and DIMS) data\, especially in relation to varied tem
 peratures among the sites. I have found that the survival of A. petraea\, 
 after exposure to sub-zero temperatures\, is dependent on the duration of 
 pre-shock cold acclimation time. This duration is population specific as s
 ome populations respond faster to cold acclimation than other populations.
  Such changes in the plant can be observed using these Affymetrix\, iTRAQ 
 and metabolomic datasets. I am now interested in understanding the detaile
 d mechanistic and regulatory basis of lipid accumulation in algae. Lipid a
 ccumulation can be induced by nitrogen deprivation in the growth medium. T
 his inducible process provides an excellent experimental basis for observi
 ng changes in the expression of gene transcripts\, proteins and metabolic 
 activities during lipid accumulation in algae. To this end\, culture the m
 odel alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in media containing either low or norm
 al concentrations of nitrogen. This enables us to measure the accumulation
  of the major classes of lipids (free fatty acids\, phospholipids\, glycol
 ipids and triacylglycerides) and levels of expression of key mRNA transcri
 pts for lipid metabolism over time.
LOCATION:Department of Plant Sciences\, Large Lecture Theatre
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